On last night, the 44th President spoke to the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. His remarks were profound in many respects, not the least of which being that he correctly noted the black community has to begin to take responsibility, once again, for its own destiny! During segregation many blacks achieved at a higher level in spite of the restrictions placed on minorities by the larger society.
So the POTUS' message was simply; we have to get back to our core principles or we can not be helped by a black President or anyone else. The POTUS also made a direct reference to the fact that more minority kids need to strive to become engineers, scientist and Supreme Court Justices and not just hoopers and rappers. This was obviously a timely reminder that the first Hispanic is matriculating through Congressional hearings en route to becoming a Supreme Court Justice.
What the POTUS rightly understands is that there are only a couple of things that can level the playing field in this world - education, money and power. Most in the black community once understood that if I am educated to the hilt, I can compete with you and can not be denied because you can not take away what I know.
The fallacy in today's concept is that money can gain you access and power. Although not completely false, money can also be lost (ref. current recession) or taken away (ref. Michael Jackson) or you can be denied access for lack of suitable credentials, and then what tools are you left with to compete - NOthing!
It starts with education.
Obama Tells Fellow Blacks: ‘No Excuses’ for Any Failure
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times (7/17/09)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/us/politics/17obama.html?_r=1&hp
Sonia Sotomayor and the Politics of Race
By James Joyner of Outside the Beltway Blog (5/27/09)
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/sonia_sotomayor_and_the_politics_of_race/
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